1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the production of high purity silicon and, more particularly, it pertains to the use of an electric arc heater for the production of silicon involving a hydrogen reduction.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Prior processes for the production of high purity silicon are generally characterized by high costs and low capacity. One method for producing high purity silicon involves the following steps: (1) carbothermic reduction of silica to metallurgical silicon, (2) conversion of the metallurgical silicon to an intermediate compound such as SiHCl.sub.3, (3) purification of the intermediate compound, and (4) decomposition of the intermediate compound to silicon.
The silicon produced by this process is very costly and, thus, economically unsuitable for use in many applications and, in particular, in solar electric power generation devices.